U.S. oil refiners looking to replace crude lost after a storm hit the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- U.S. oil refiners hunting to replace crude lost after a storm hit the U.S. Gulf of Mexico last month have been turning to Iraqi and Canadian oil, while Asian buyers have been pursuing Middle Eastern and Russian grades, analysts and traders said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Royal Dutch Shell, the largest producer in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, this week said damage from Hurricane Ida to an offshore transfer facility will limit Mars sour crude supplies into early next year. The grade is used heavily by U.S. Gulf refiners and companies in South Korea and China, the top two export destinations for Mars.

The United States generally exports more than 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, most from the U.S. Gulf Coast. With overall fuel demand rebounding to pre-pandemic levels, refiners will need to make up for the Mars shut-ins. The loss of up to 250,000 bpd has some U.S. refiners seeking replacements for fourth-quarter delivery, especially Iraq's Basra crude, traders said. Others received supplies of sour crude from U.S. storehouses.

Basra crude has come to the fore during past disruptions. In 2019, when U.S. sanctions on Venezuela cut off heavy crude grades to Gulf refiners, Iraq rapidly boosted cargoes. Canadian heavy-oil suppliers also benefited.

ExxonMobil and Placid Refining Co have received oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), addressing immediate needs for sour crude.

Refiner Marathon Petroleum has bought Basra for October loading, one trader said. Suezmax tanker Jag Leena is provisionally booked to load 1 million barrels of Basra Light crude on Oct. 10 for the United States, data on Refinitiv Eikon showed, although it was not immediately clear which company chartered the ship.

U.S. refiners able to process and blend heavier crudes also have shown interest in Canadian and Latin American grades, traders added. Marathon declined to comment.

As per MRC, Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals firm, said its joint venture project with ExxonMobil in the US Gulf Coast has started commissioning activities and preparing for an initial startup. The project includes the establishment of an ethylene production unit with annual capacity of about 1.8 MMtpy, which will feed two polyethylene (PE) units and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit, it said in a statement.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AOC Resins (Collierville, Tennessee) has announced an increase in its October prices for the Americas, as per the company's press release.

Thus, the price increase is effective October 4, 2021, in the amount of USD0.10/lb for all products sold in the USA, Canada, Mexico and Latin America.

This action is due to continuing and significant escalation of costs for key raw material ingredients and freight. AOC’s global purchasing resources continue to workwith their network of suppliers to manage costs, maintain supply and meet customers’ needs.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2020, AOC, Kaprain and Spolchemie announced they had reached agreement on AOC acquiring the Unsaturated Polyester Resin (UPR) manufacturing operations located at the Spolchemie site in Usti nad Labem (Czech Republic). This footprint extension will allow AOC to further improve service and logistics to its customers in Central/ Eastern Europe as well as in Germany, and will make new products (e.g. based on recycled PET) available for customers around Europe.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated PET consumption in Russia reached 59,050 tonnes in July, 2021, up by 9% year on year. Russia's overall PET consumption totalled 470,250 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 12% year on year.

AOC is the leading global supplier of specialty resins and materials utilized in a wide range of applications including Coatings and Protective Barriers, Colorants and Visual Effects, Adhesives and Specialties, and Composite resins. With strong capabilities worldwide in manufacturing and science, the company works closely with customers to deliver unrivaled quality, service, and reliability for today and create innovative solutions for tomorrow.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sasol Ltd, South Africa's major fuel and petrochemical producer, has raised its emissions reduction targets for 2030 to 30% from 10% previously in a bid to make the company a net zero carbon emitter by 2050, reported Reuters with reference to its CEO's statement last week.

The new targets come as the company faces pressure from investors and environmentalists to take decisive steps at its heavily polluting plants, often described as amongst the continent's worst greenhouse gas emitters (GHG).

Fleetwood Grobler, CEO of Sasol said in an interview with Reuters that the company intends to cut down its GHG emissions from 63.9 million tonnes to about 44.73 million tonnes by 2030, up from 57.5 million tonnes as per its previous target.

"This works on three levers - increase of natural gas as a transition fuel, renewable power source and energy efficiency processes," he said.

The world's top manufacturer of motor fuel from coal consumes around 40 million tonnes of coal annually from its own mines and exports up to 4 million tonnes each year.

The petrochemicals major intends to gradually replace coal, with increased natural gas consumption which will be used as a transition fuel. However, its coal consumption will, at a limited level, would still continue till 2040, he said.

As MRC wrote previously, Sasol's world-scale US ethane cracker with the capacity of 1.5 mln tonnes per year reached beneficial operation on 27 August 2019. Sasol's new cracker, the heart of Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), is the third and most significant of the seven LCCP facilities to come online and will provide feedstock to the company's six new derivative units at its Lake Charles multi-asset site.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Sasol is an international integrated chemicals and energy company that leverages technologies and the expertise of our 31 270 people working in 32 countries. The company develops and commercialises technologies, and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product stream, including liquid fuels, petrochemicals and low-carbon electricity.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian refiners are gearing up to alter their crude oil import mix in favour of lighter grades that yield more gasoline to meet a surge in demand for the motor fuel in Asia’s third-largest economy, said Reuters.

Refiners in the world’s No. 3 oil importer and consumer will increase imports of gasoline-yielding crudes from the United States and West Africa, while cutting heavier sour grades from the Middle East that yield more middle distillates like diesel and kerosene, they said. The move dovetails with an earlier push to reduce India’s reliance on Middle Eastcrudes to enhance energy security.

“The gasoline demand is very, very strong, whereas diesel is lagging behind right now,” said Amrita Sen, head of research at Energy Aspects. "Refiners are shifting yields further to gasoline ... I would expect more West African, gasoline-rich crude to flow into India, less sour crude to go in there."

Indian refineries are designed to maximise diesel production mostly from Middle Eastern oil, as government-controlled prices made the middle distillate the preferred fuel for industries and trucking firms. But a narrowing price gap between gasoline and diesel, and a consumer switch to personal vehicles instead of diesel-powered public transport since the onset of the coronavirus, are helping to lift gasoline consumption.

"Demand growth in gasoline is much higher compared to diesel due to changing consumer preference on personal use vehicles ... and better power supply reducing use of diesel gensets," said M.K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

Credit rating agency Moody’s India unit ICRA expects India’s gasoline consumption to rise 14% to a record 31.9 million tonnes (739,000 bpd) in the fiscal year to end-March 2022, while diesel consumption is expected to take well into the fourth quarter or even next year to recover pre-pandemic levels.

Tarun Kapoor, the top bureaucrat in the oil ministry, earlier this month said India’s refining system configuration would be different going forward, focusing on higher output of gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas. Improved road infrastructure has also cut distances and travel times for heavy vehicles, reducing diesel consumption.

As well, Indian Railways, a key gasoil buyer, is cutting diesel use as it rolls out a plan to electrify its entire broad-gauge network by 2023. “India’s gasoline demand will continue to rise ... so our crude diet will change accordingly and move towards the lighter grades,” said a Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd official.

Crude with API gravity of more than 40 - such as U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Light, WTI Midland, Nigeria’s Akpo and Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend - can be used to maximise gasoline output at refineries equipped with fuel-upgrading units such as a catalytic reformer, he said.

And Angolan crudes like Palanca, Kissanje and Azerbaijan’s Azeri Light that produce more vacuum gasoil will suit refineries with fluid catalytic crackers, the BPCL official said. Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest refiner, is having similar discussions about changing up its crude mix, a company official said.

State refiners, which mostly buy lighter grades through spot tenders instead of term contracts, also plan to raise the share of spot purchases in their imports to 37% in the fiscal year to end-March 2022, from 22% in 2018/19, said another official at one of the state refiners.

As per MRC, India plans to force refineries and fertilizer plants to use some green hydrogen, junior oil minister Rameswar Teli said on Monday, as Asia's third-largest economy strives to reduce carbon emissions. Governments and energy companies around the world are betting on clean hydrogen playing a leading role in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, though its future uses and costs remain uncertain.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina and privately-held Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery were awarded 4.43 million barrels of crudes in China's first set of planned auctions from state crude reserves, reported S&P Global with reference to sources from both companies.

The state-run PetroChina won 951,137 barrels of Qatar Marine and 1.1 million barrels of Forties, each cargo priced at USD65/b.

Hengli took 1.79 million barrels of Oman at USD65/b and 592,031 barrels of Upper Zakum at USD70.50/b.

However, the 2.95 million barrels of Murban crude failed to attract any bids.

As planned, China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration held the auction on the National Oil Reserve Trading System Sept. 24. Participants said the notional price for the auction barrels was USD65/b.

As MRC informed previously, PetroChina, Asia's largest oil and gas producer,aims to have oil, gas and green energies to each account for a third of its portfolio by 2035, as the Chinese oil major shifts toward a lower-carbon future.

We remind that in August, 2021, PetroChina Liaoyang Petrochemical Co Ltd , part of the Chinese petrochemical major - PetroChina,successfully started up its new polypropylene (PP) plant last week. Based in Liaoning City, Liaoyang Province, China, the new PP plant has a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.

Hengli Group is an international company that owns a diversity of business: petrochemical, advanced polyester materials, textiles, trading, finance and thermal power. In 2019, Hengli’s total revenue was 556.7 billion RMB, ranking No. 181 in the Fortune Global 500 list. Hengli operates the largest PTA site in the world combined with the biggest performance fibre textile production base.
MRC